1 Uncle and Nephew

Xu Mo felt a piercing pain in his head, as though his head might split apart at any moment. At this moment, countless scenes played in his mind, akin to movies. He wanted to wake up, but it was impossible to open his eyes no matter what he tried.

Sleep paralysis?

A thought appeared in Xu Mo's mind as his consciousness continued to struggle. Finally, his left finger moved, and it felt cold and clammy to the touch. His right hand seemed to be pressed down by a heavy object, and it had become somewhat numb.

"Hu…" Xu Mo finally opened his eyes. He panted loudly and he only sensed extreme fatigue.

He felt like he had perceived something, so he lifted his left hand for a look. His palm had turned bloody red, and it was a shocking sight. This caused Xu Mo's gaze to turn sluggish as his heartbeat quickened.

His right hand still couldn't move. Hence, he shifted his head a little and glanced at his right arm. There was a tiny body curled up there. Her tattered clothes were also stained with traces of blood, and her juvenile face had tearstains along with bloodstains. This was a little girl around five years old. As she slept, her body twitched continuously.

After that, Xu Mo carefully turned to the side. He curled his arm with his elbow pointed to the ground as he sat up, allowing her to lean against his chest.

Xu Mo who had sat up glanced around him. At this moment, his heart pounded furiously, and there was an intense sensation of rippling pain.

In the cramped room, two ice-cold bodies lay horizontally on the ground. They had turned a dark purple color, and their blood dyed the floor red. It was evident that they had been dead for some time.

A memory surfaced in Xu Mo's brain. A stinging sensation drifted over along with intense sorrow, as well as heart-wrenching pain. It was as though he couldn't distinguish who he was himself.

He then lowered his head and looked at the little girl sobbing in his arms, and he felt even more unbearable in his heart.

Xu Mo could also faintly sense what had happened to him. He lowered his head, looked at the ground, and saw pieces of broken furniture all around. After that, Xu Mo found a broken mirror shard. His body moved slightly, and his left hand took the shard so that he could look at his reflection. He then saw a slightly immature face, roughly around 15 years of age, which was pale with sickness.

At this moment, the eyelashes of the little girl fluttered as she opened her eyes and called out. "Elder brother."

As though she had thought of something, the little girl began crying fiercely. Her body turned in Xu Mo's embrace, but her head was forcibly held by Xu Mo. Right now, his right hand was tightly wrapped around her neck, and he exerted force slightly to ensure that she couldn't struggle.

"Don't look."

Xu Mo lightly whispered, feeling like blades were slashing his heart. Even breathing brought him pain.

How cruel and tragic would it be for a five-year-old little girl to personally witness her parents and elder brother being beaten to death?

"Brother, I'm scared…" The little girl sobbed and her body trembled. Her tiny hands tightly embraced Xu Mo. As a result, Xu Mo's heart trembled along with her sobs, and he exerted even more force to hold her tighter.

"Don't be afraid, elder brother is here." Xu Mo did his best to make his voice sound gentler.

"Elder brother, are daddy and mommy sleeping? Why are they bleeding? Can you wake them up?" The little girl sobbed as she spoke.

"Yao`er. Daddy and mommy are both very tired, just let them sleep for a little while, alright?" Xu Mo lowered his head and gently spoke to the little girl, doing his best to squeeze out a smile.

"Okay." Although the little girl was still crying, she nodded obediently.

Xu Mo then carried the little girl and stood up. His gaze surveyed the surroundings. This simple room was only 20+ square meters, and the living room and kitchen were joined together. Dust could be seen everywhere, and there was only a very tiny bedroom in this house.

Xu Mo carefully entered the bedroom and placed the little girl on the bed. The little girl then looked at him. It seemed that there was some fear in her eyes.

"Yao`er, sleep for a little while here. Elder Brother will accompany you," Xu Mo softly spoke to her. She nodded but still didn't release her grasp on Xu Mo's hand.

"You should sleep quickly. Everything will be fine once you wake up." Xu Mo's other hand stroked the little girl's hair and smoothly slid down her face, helping her to close her eyes.

The little girl was very obedient. She didn't argue. Xu Mo stayed by her side for a while before lightly retracting his hand and covering her with a blanket.

The room was very messy; many clothes were piled up together. After Xu Mo found two tattered quilts, he walked out of the bedroom to cover the two corpses. He was then searching through his memories, trying to find out how to handle such a situation. However, the original host of this body clearly didn't have any memories regarding how to handle such situations. He, who had yet to reach 15 years old, had not accumulated sufficient life experience yet.

The original host only knew roughly that the dead could be handled either by burial or cremation.

"Money!"

Xu Mo cast a glance at the messy room that showed traces of being searched before. Most probably, items that had value had all been taken away. This world seemed to be even crueler compared to the original host's memories.

Deng, Deng, Deng…

At this moment, a sound drifted over. The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged figure walked in. He cast a glance at the bodies that were covered with the white quilts before looking at Xu Mo. After that, his eyelids twitched and he asked, "Are they people from the munition factory?"

"I think so." Xu Mo nodded. In his memories, his parents were ordinary workers from the munition factory. But one day, they suddenly ran back home and didn't dare to go to work any longer. They even went to find the law enforcement team, as though they had encountered some major matter.

According to Xu Mo's memories, his parents didn't tell him what had happened. However, he faintly heard from their discussion that the munition factory had some hidden secrets, and they were very afraid. They wanted to whistleblow, but in the end, they ended up like that. Their family of four, except for Yao`er who wasn't even five years old yet, all died from being beaten up.

"Fools. In the past, I've advised them not to meddle in things unrelated to them. If they listened, they wouldn't have ended up like this," said the middle-aged man. He was Father Xu's younger brother, which meant that he was Xu Mo's uncle.

Xu Mo looked at him and discovered that when the other party said this, there were no emotions of sorrow or anger. He was so calm that it felt like the person who had just died wasn't his blood-related elder brother.

Xu Mo knew from his memories that his parents were honest folks, while this uncle of his was a little craftier. Usually, the two brothers didn't have much interaction.

"Xu Mo, since matters have reached this point, what we can do is to handle the funeral of your parents first." Uncle Xu sighed. "However, cremation requires a sum of money. Your uncle doesn't have much savings, so I can only borrow the money from someone first. Let's try our best to maintain some dignity for them. After that, we will sell this lousy house away to repay the debt. What do you think?"

Xu Mo had some wariness in his gaze as he looked at his uncle. In his memories, his uncle wasn't so easy to talk to.

"Where will Yao`er and I stay after that?" Xu Mo asked.

"I will apply to become the guardian for the two of you. In the future, you and Yao`er can follow uncle," said Uncle Xu.

"Uncle, your place isn't large either. If I and Yao`er go there, I'm afraid there won't be any space to accommodate us. Besides, it won't be too convenient when Yao`er grows up in the future," replied Xu Mo.

A hint of impatience flashed in Uncle Xu's eyes upon hearing this. (This Xu Mo was usually honest and cowardly, so how would he know of such matters? He ought to have gone silly from being overly frightened by right, yet he actually knows how to think of the future?)

"You don't have to worry about this. Uncle will think of a solution." Impatience could be heard in Uncle Xu's voice.

Xu Mo stared at his uncle before speaking, "Thanks for uncle's kind intention, but there's no need to trouble uncle. I will take good care of Yao`er myself."

"You are just a kid, what do you know?" Uncle Xu snapped and glared at Xu Mo. Now, a hint of tyranny could be seen in his eyes as he threatened, "This time around, you were lucky to be alive. You can't even protect yourself, yet you still want to take care of Yao`er? Just be obedient and follow me. As for Yao`er, you don't have to worry. She is still very young and will forget about everything in a few years. I will find a good family that will take her in. If we encounter some major characters who want to adopt children and if her luck is good, she will be able to lead a good life in the future."

After speaking, he emphasized it by adding, "Let's settle it like this."

At this moment, Xu Mo expressionlessly stared at Uncle Xu, yet his heart was ice-cold. The original host of this body had a job. Although he couldn't earn much, it was sufficient for him to survive. As Yao`er was still so young and needed people to take care of her, Uncle Xu planned to give her away. Wait, it might be 'give' or maybe 'sell'. As for finding a good family to take her in, the probability was basically zero.

This was clearly a case of Uncle Xu planning to steal the house after his elder brother died.

Uncle Xu felt somewhat uncomfortable from being stared at like this by Xu Mo. Hence, he mentally mused whether the personality of this little b*stard changed after what he had experienced. His guts were actually so great. However, Uncle Xu didn't believe that he couldn't deal with a young brat who wasn't even 15 years old yet.

"I don't want to." At this moment, a juvenile voice drifted over. Xu Mo turned his head and saw Yao`er standing at the door entrance of the bedroom barefooted. Evidently, she was shocked awake. Her large wet eyes stared at Xu Mo. "Yao`er doesn't want to be given to others."

Staring at the tears in the little girl's eyes, Xu Mo felt a piercing pain in his heart. He ran over and hugged her as he spoke, "Elder brother won't give Yao`er away."

"There are no grounds for a child to speak here." Uncle Xu glared at Yao`er.

Yao`er's body cowered as she looked at Xu Mo.

Upon seeing this, flames of anger surged in Xu Mo's heart. He carried Yao`er into the room and placed her on the bed before gently rubbing her head. "Yao`er, be obedient. Elder brother will protect you. Just stay in the room and don't move around, okay?"

"Okay, Yao`er will listen to big bro!" The little girl nodded obediently.

"Good!" Xu Mo lightly kissed her forehead and went out of the bedroom once more as he closed the door carefully.

"Uncle, please return. I will handle the matters here." Xu Mo walked out and looked at Uncle Xu. He had no expectations that his uncle would help him.

When Uncle Xu heard this, he cast a venomous glance at Xu Mo. After that, a ruthless and malevolent smile appeared on his face. He then walked closer to Xu Mo and icily spoke, "Little b*stard, I gave you face, but you don't want face. Your parents are already dead. Do you understand?"

As he spoke, he directly aimed a kick at Xu Mo. Xu Mo, who had a weak body, directly fell onto the ground because of it. Uncle Xu then spoke, "Isn't it good to obediently cooperate with me? Do you think this daddy is willing to take you all in? You don't have to worry about Yao`er. That brat is quite adorable and should be able to fetch a good price. Those rich old men in the black market always love types like this."

Xu Mo coughed. He clenched his hands so tightly that they were trembling.

"Hmph." Uncle Xu coldly swept his gaze at Xu Mo. After that, he passed Xu Mo and walked to the door. "Yao`er, Uncle will bring you out to play."

As he spoke, he pushed the door open.

However, a noise suddenly rang out behind him. Uncle Xu frowned as killing intent shone in his eyes. He originally thought that Xu Mo still had some value, and he could make use of Xu Mo to earn a little money. But from the looks of things now…

In any case, no one would care about the things that happened here.

Just when he turned his head, he saw a sharp mirror shard ferociously piercing him, and his pupils violently narrowed. Never in his wildest imagination would he have thought that this weak and cowardly nephew of his would take this action. He couldn't help but be extremely shocked. He wanted to stretch his hand out to block it, but how would he be able to react in time? Xu Mo had used the entirety of the strength in his body. Hence, the mirror shard directly pierced his uncle's eye and stabbed right into it.

Author note: I've written over ten years of Xuanhuan (Eastern Fantasy Genre) and want to write a book about interstellar science fiction now. This new book is finally launched on Qidian. I hope that my brothers and sisters out there can support it!!! Past works include: Peerless Martial God, Ancient Godly Monarch and Legend of Futian.